


By His Side

by orphan_account



Series: In Times of Need [2]
Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Abuse, Bad Parent Robert Lightwood, Bad Parenting, Comforting Magnus Bane, Derogatory Language, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, Injured Alec, M/M, Supportive Isabelle Lightwood, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-06-10 01:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6932305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus and Alec go back to the institute to pick up Alec's belongings, unfortunately they run into someone they were hoping to avoid. Alec suffers from an unforgivable injury and Magnus is there to pick up the pieces as usual.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By His Side

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any recognisable content, it belongs to Cassandra Clare.

“Magnus, I cannot go back to the institute wearing _this._ ” Alec insisted, tugging once on the silky green shirt that clung to his body as though it were a second skin. “And don’t even get me started on _these._ ”

“What? I think they enhance your ass, totally perfect.” Magnus said, taking the opportunity to admire his boyfriend’s behind which was clad tightly in black leather trousers.

“Why can’t you just mend my jeans and sweater?” Alec asked, for what must have been the third time that morning.

“I’ve already told you why. I got rid of them earlier.” Magnus smirked. “Plus, I think that this outfit is much more pleasing.”

“Did you really have to rip my clothes?” Alec grumbled as he sipped his coffee.

“You weren’t complaining last night.” Magnus smirked, as he gently tugged the almost empty cup from Alec’s hands and placed it on the kitchen counter behind him. He drew his hands along the thin silk of Alec’s shirt and grinned. He could feel everything through the fabric. “But you’re absolutely right. This shirt would be much more fun in the bedroom.”

“Plus, I don’t think it would help the situation if I turned up to the institute in this and ran into my dad.” Alec said.

“Ah yes, your ‘father’,” Magnus said the word with distaste, his fists momentarily clenched on Alec’s shirt before relaxing and smoothing out the creases, “if we do run into him, I’ll definitely be showing him what it feels like to be punched.”

 “Don’t.” Alec said. “It’s not worth it, Magnus. He isn’t capable of listening and he made his feelings pretty clear yesterday.”

“I can’t promise not to react, but I can promise not to initiate the attack.”

“Meaning?”

“If he comes anywhere close to harming you, _then_ I will show him why I’m the high warlock.” Magnus promised.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that.” Alec sighed. “Now, come on, get rid of this ridiculous outfit and we can get going.”

Magnus snapped his fingers and Alec promptly found himself standing in the warlock’s kitchen wearing nothing but his boxers.

“Must you take everything I say so literally?” Alec asked in exasperation.

Magnus smirked wickedly as he trailed his eyes up and down Alec. “What? Personally, I think that this is a fantastic way to go out.”

“Hmm, but it might get a bit cold. Plus, there would be no chance whatsoever of me leaving the apartment like this.” Alec said.

“Aw, must you wound me like this?” Magnus said dramatically, before snapping his fingers and Alec found himself wearing a comfortable black sweater and jeans ensemble. He was glad that Magnus had chosen something that Alec would typically wear but at the same time he noted that the clothes were definitely form fitting and had a certain elegance in the material that often came with a hefty price tag.

It sometimes bothered Alec that a shop somewhere would now be missing an outfit, but anytime he thought about it for too long Magnus would distract him with soft kisses or steamy make out sessions and somehow Alec managed to forget all about his concerns.

“Are you ready to go?” Magnus asked him.

“I guess so, I texted Izzy earlier and she said that our parents should be out for a while but that she wasn’t sure what time they were set to return or what they were going out for, so be prepared for their return at any point of our trip.” Alec said.

Magnus nodded and removed himself from his shadowhunter and turned to create a portal against the far wall. Alec loved looking at Magnus’ portals, they always seemed to have a glittery sheen to them, much like the glitter that almost always surrounded his eyes.

With their hands clasped together they strolled through the portal and found themselves staring at the looming building that was the institute. Alec was used to using portals to travel by now as it was Magnus’ main method of transport. At first, Alec had found them to be disorientating and he often felt some form of travel sickness afterwards which had been pretty embarrassing, especially the first time as Alec had rushed to the nearest bush to throw up much to the bewilderment of Magnus who couldn’t possibly imagine anyone not being comfortable travelling by portals.

“Alec!” Isabelle shouted, running down the steps from the institute and towards the pair. “I was so worried, nobody is telling me anything, and I heard dad and Jace arguing but Jace won’t tell me why, he says that he doesn’t know what happened but that whatever it was, it was bad, and then I saw the blood and-“

“Izzy, it’s alright. Look, I’m fine.” Alec said, cutting off his sister’s tirade with alarm. It wasn’t like her to get so worked up.

“What happened?” Isabelle asked again.

“We’ll explain everything as I get my things, Izzy.” Alec promised. “I really don’t want to be here longer than I have to.”

“You’re leaving us?” She asked.

“I have to. Dad-” Alec paused, just saying his name sent spears of betrayal and hurt rocketing through him. “He told me to either break up with Magnus and get a girlfriend or move out.”

“But that’s not even a proper choice. Even he had to know that you’d never chose to stay under those conditions.” Isabelle insisted as they made their way into the building.

“Oh he knew that perfectly well.” Magnus said. His cat-like eyes narrowing, shocking Isabelle into silence. Alec had never seen his sister act so bizarrely. She would usually ask questions relentlessly until Alec told her everything. Maybe she knew that this wasn’t that sort of situation. Maybe she knew that having a good vent wasn’t going to solve anything this time.

“Jace packed all your clothes for you, he said that you wouldn’t want to be here for long, as much as this would go to his head if he heard it; Jace isn’t often wrong.” Isabelle said quietly.

“Where is Jace?” Alec asked.

“He went somewhere with Clary, he wanted to be here for you, but apparently it was an emergency.”  Isabelle rolled her eyes.

They slowly gathered everything together, Alec was thankful for Jace’s ability to know exactly what Alec would pack for himself. He picked up his precious stele and slotted it into its usual place in his pocket. The room was beginning to look bare what with all his clothes gone. Only a few rune textbooks lay by his bed, ones that he’d read a million times over, he was going to pass them on to Max but-

No. Things were bad enough without him following that train of thought. He picked up the textbooks and threw them on top of his bag.

There. That was everything.

It suddenly dawned on Alec that his bedroom was bare now. All he had had in it was clothes and a few books. How could he have ever called this place his home? He had managed to fit all of his possessions into a couple of bags, there was no sign that he had ever been there now. There were no posters or pictures on the walls, no marks on the carpet or childish scribbles on the walls or furniture from his childhood.

There was just a bed with its bedside table, a wardrobe and a desk. Even his desk was completely clear, he’d never used it, other than to store socks and underwear in the drawers of it.

Looking around, Alec was struck by how easily he could be removed from his family.

“Promise me something, Izzy?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah?” She said, she too was looking around the room with a slightly uncomfortable expression. Alec thought of her decorated walls and overflowing wardrobe. He knew that she had way more stuff than she needed and that she had boxes down in the basement of extra storage; Isabelle could never fit her things into a couple of measly bags.

“Promise me that, no matter what anyone says, you’ll never hate me. You’ll still call and visit me and Magnus.” He said, his voice trembling slightly. He felt a warm hand slip into his and he glanced up into the concerned eyes of his favourite person.

“You don’t even need to ask that.” Isabelle said with certainty. “In fact, you’ll be struggling to get rid of me if anything.”

“By the Angel, that’s never going to happen, you idiot.” Alec smirked. “Why would I want rid of you?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask the hickey on your neck?” Isabelle smirked.

Alec felt his cheeks flame up into a brilliant red and Magnus grinned proudly and without any degree of remorse at his boyfriend’s obvious embarrassment.

“Ah, um.” He stuttered. “Well, you see.”

“He’s getting a matching one on the other side tonight.” Magnus said with a large, predatory grin.

“Magnus!” Alec half shouted, flushing even redder which Magnus was surprised about as he’d thought that the shadowhunter couldn’t get any worse.

“Well, I definitely won’t be visiting tonight.” Isabelle said, she looked way too amused for Alec’s liking.

“I’ll never live this down.” Alec moaned turning away from the two of them so that he was facing the door.

Magnus was a warlock and had seen many strange and fascinating things, some of them were expected and some unexpected. But he had never seen the colour drain from someone’s face as fast as it did from Alec’s. One second there red-faced, blushing teenager was turning away from him and the next he was paler that the snow in the Arctic and was staring at the doorway with unadulterated horror.

Magnus knew what he would see before he even looked.

Maryse and Robert Lightwood were standing in the doorway.

“Alec, darling, you’ve come home.” Maryse said happily. “You’ve decided to ditch the warlock then?”

Magnus coughed pointedly.

“Alec, we discussed this yesterday.” Robert said, fury lacing his words.

“I came to get my things. You made my choices clear, and I’m choosing to leave.” Alec said, his voice managing to stay steady up until he said he was leaving. He could feel Magnus by his shoulder, he was a solid, reassuring presence.

“You will not be taking anything, Alec.” Robert said and he gestured at the bags. “This was all bought by your mother and I, therefore you have no right to take any of it.”

“Alec, why don’t you date Lillian Farhorn? She’s a lovely shadowhunter, top of her class and only two years younger than yourself.” Maryse said gently.

“Is it a problem that I’m dating a warlock, or that I’m gay?” Alec asked. He could feel his throat tightening, and swallowed quickly, he would not let them see how much they were hurting him.

“It’s just so unnatural.” His mother said tearfully and she turned and walked away from him, her unnatural son.

“Wait!” Isabelle called after their mother, before she turned to Alec, “I’ll go to her, try and make her see sense.”

Isabelle rushed out the room, squeezing past their father, leaving only Alec, Magnus and Robert in the room. Magnus had a sudden feeling that he needed to get Alec out of the room as soon as physically possible.

“See, you’ve disgusted your mother too, it’s only a matter of time before your sister begins to realise what a disgusting pansy you are.”

“Hey!” Magnus said sharply. “Don’t you _dare-“_

“Shut up, downworlder.” Robert sneered. “Do you pay him for sex, is that it? Did you buy my son’s services? Or is he paying you to sleep with him?”

“I love Alec.” Magnus said. To Robert, Magnus appeared calm and in control, stoic almost. Alec, however, could see the rage coursing through him, the pure fury of his loved one being torn to emotional shreds.

“Love? I doubt it. Apparently Alec is now just some downworlder slut.” Robert snarled. “He’ll drop his pants for anyone with a wallet full of money and a dick.”

“Dad, why are you saying these things?” Alec pleaded, he could feel the tears rising and Magnus moved closer to him, trembling with rage.

“Because that’s all you are now. That’s all you’ll ever be seen as. Why else would you date a male warlock, if not for the money?” Robert sneered. “You’re disgusting and I hate you, Alec. You are no son of mine. I didn’t raise you to be like this. I raised a son. Not a poof.”

“No amount of parenting could have changed this outcome, I’m gay, dad, I always have been and I always will be. I’m sorry that you don’t like that about me.”

“Don’t like it? I loathe it. I loathe _you_.” Robert growled and he walked forward till he was inches away from Alec.

Alec vaguely noted that whilst he was still shorter than his father; Magnus was in fact taller. It was a satisfying fact, not that it really mattered in the grand scheme of things.

“I should have killed you last night.” Robert said and with that he drew out a hidden weapon and then sliced the small seraph blade at Alec. Alec let out a startled shout and jumped back, he was quick but not quick enough.

A long cut sliced through the sweater that Magnus had stolen for him, and blood welled up from the gash that ran from his left hip up under his right armpit.

“Dad?” Alec gasped in shock and pain as he automatically raised a hand to the injured area.

Magnus reacted faster than Alec thought possible and he leapt at Robert. Sparks fizzled from his fingertips as he punched him harder than humanely possible. Robert’s head snapped to the side and he fell to the ground, out cold.

A small part of Alec felt relieved that his father was still breathing, but a larger part felt relief that Magnus had knocked him out.

Speaking of Magnus, the warlock was in front of Alec immediately, running his hand over his chest and the shredded shirt.

“It’s a damn good thing you reacted so quickly. The wound isn’t overly deep, I can heal you in just a minute.” Magnus said, focusing intently on the wound. A warmth began to flow from his fingertips and Alec felt the wound begin to knit itself together. This was the second time in just two days that Magnus had healed him.

“Thank you.” Alec murmured, giving the warlock a gentle kiss, it was slow and filled with love and gratitude and perfection. But Magnus pulled away.

“This is all my fault.” He said. “I’m so sorry, Alec. It was all my idea to come here and its just made everything so much worse.”

“No, Magnus, I needed to come back. Trust me, I don’t blame you for any of this, in fact if it wasn’t for you convincing me to come back I wouldn’t have noticed some very important facts about my life.” Alec said earnestly. “I love you, and I am so, so grateful that you came here with me, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“But those things that he was saying, darling, they were vile, _he_ is vile.” Magnus said.

“It was pretty much a repeat of yesterday, he seems to be a bit of a broken record. Although my mother is a new addition. I didn’t expect to be called unnatural.” Alec said.

Magnus watched him carefully, despite the apparent disregard Alec had for his parent’s abysmal attitudes, he could tell that the way they had acted was affecting Alec, he knew that the longer they stayed in the institute, the worse Alec would feel.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Magnus said as he moved towards the bags of Alec’s belongings.

“Leave them,” Alec said quietly, “they didn’t want me to take them.”

“They can’t stop you from taking your own stuff, Alec, that’s not fair.”

“I don’t care about fair. They said that they bought it, therefore they get to keep it. I don’t want any of it after that.” Alec said.

“Ok, well, I can get you plenty of new things to wear. In fact, this may not be as awful as it looks. You will finally be walking around wearing something that has less holes than swiss cheese.” Magnus said with a grin.

“As long as they’re clothes that I would normally wear and feel comfortable in, then we won’t have a problem.” Alec said in agreement, he could just imagine some of the contraptions that Magnus would acquire.

“Hmm, I think that can be managed, although I have to admit that I’m looking forward to seeing you in the green shirt again.” Magnus said as he inched closer to Alec, he fingers tracing a line where he was previously injured.

Alec chuckled and pulled back. “Don’t start something that you can’t finish, warlock.” He threatened.

“Who says I can’t finish it?” Magnus asked, stepping closer.

Alec was about to reply when Robert groaned and twitched on the floor.

“That’s who.” He sighed. “Come on, let’s tell Izzy that we’re leaving.”

They stepped over the barely conscious man and Alec led Magus down the corridor, he could faintly hear the sound of hushed arguing coming from the study.

“ _He’s your son!”_

“He’s no son of mine, he is an abomination. I would have rather it was Alec that died than Max.”

Alec froze causing Magnus to collide with his back. Magnus seemed to have heard what Maryse had said as his feline eyes narrowed threateningly and Alec would have sworn that his lover actually growled in anger.

Magnus opened the door furiously, sending it colliding against the wall with a bang like a gunshot. Isabelle and Maryse both jumped in shock and turned to stare at the angry downworlder. Magnus’ eyes were automatically drawn to the dried blood that lay on the desk and floor, before he turned his gaze to the eldest Lightwood woman.

“I would just like to inform you that Alec and I will be leaving now. I would advise that you tend to your husband as he will most likely have an atrocious headache when he comes round and quite possibly a concussion as well.” Magnus said. “I will not apologise as your husband definitely deserved it. I hope that I never have to see either of you again, you awful excuses for shadowhunters and humans. Of course, that doesn’t apply to you, Isabelle, you’re welcome to visit your brother anytime.”

And with that Magnus turned around to face Alec with a confident flourish and grasped his hand. Using the other hand he creating a glimmering portal, and together Magnus and Alec stepped through and found themselves in the apartment.

“Welcome home.” Magnus said gently.

“That sound good.” Alec said quietly.

Magnus held Alec in his embrace for a long time, neither of them were willing to be the first to pull away. They both knew that they would have to discuss Robert’s actions and Maryse’s cruel words at some point but they were both so consumed with the comfort of each other that they couldn’t bear to bring it up. Magnus knew that Alec was beyond hurt and betrayed, and Alec knew that Magnus was wishing that he’d got in more than one punch.

For now though, they were content to just hold each other, and the difficult discussions could wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out some of my other Malec fanfics if you enjoyed this one! Follow me on tumblr for short drabbles! It's 'runedmalec' and I also take requests and prompts - on or off anon


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